Hydraulic fluid conveyor

ABSTRACT

An installation for conveying paying fares, lading, or goods from an entering station to a stopping place along a route, said installation comprising: A TROUGH SHAPED WATERWAY IN WHICH BOATS ARE CAUSED TO MOVE ALONG THE WATERWAY FROM A POINT OF ENTRY TO A DISCHARGE POINT; NOZZLES AT THE ENTRY END OF SAID WATERWAY FOR DIRECTING WATER ALONG SAID WATERWAY TO CAUSE SAID BOAT TO MOVE ALONG SAID WATERWAY; AN OUTLET FOR SAID WATERWAY FOR DISCHARGING WATER FROM SAID TROUGH, SAID OUTLET AND SAID ENTRY END BEING DISPOSED IN SIDE BY SIDE RELATIONSHIP; A U-shaped turn at the end of said waterway opposite to said entry end and to said outlet; AND A MEANS FOR STOPPING INDIVIDUAL BOATS AT A DESIRED POINT ALONG SAID WATERWAY, SAID MEANS INCLUDING A PLATE HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO THE FLOOR OF SAID TROUGH, ALONGSIDE OF EACH GUEST ROOM OR SEAT AT WHICH BOATS ARE TO BE STOPPED, AND MEANS TO ACTIVATE SAID STOPPING MEANS SELECTIVELY AT ANY OF THE DESIRED PLACES ALONG SAID WATERWAY.

United States Patent 1191 Takahashi [4 1 Apr. 30,1974

[ HYDRAULIC FLUID CONVEYOR [76] Inventor: Kazushige Takahashi, 2267 Kamiyuki-machi, Hachioji-shi,

Tokyo, Japan 22 Filed: July 3,1972

21 Appl. No.: 268,260

[] Foreign Application Priority Data July 14, 1971 Japan 46-5l780 [52] US. Cl. 302/14, 61/1 F, 61/7, 104/] R, 104/73, 104/154, 114/60, 114/70,

[51] Int. Cl..... B63h 19/04, B65g 53/30, E02b 5/06 [58] Field of Search 104/1 RF, 73, 86, 138 R, 104/154; 186/1 R, 2, 7, 1 D; 302/14, 15, 16;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,403,634 10/1968 Crowder 104/138 R 689,114 12/1901 Pape 104/73 728,303 5/1903 Roltair.... 104/73 574,965 l/l897 Watson... 186/7 603,607 5/1898 Krotz 186/7 1,926,780 9/1933 Lippincott 104/73 2,551,055 5/1951 Scharkoff 104/73 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 353,571 4/1905 France 104/73 Pn'm'ary Examiner-Robert G. Sheridan Assistant Examiner,-Howard Beltran Attorney, Agent, or FirmLawrence l. Field [57] ABSTRACT An installation for conveying paying fares, lading, or goods from an entering station to a stopping place along a route, said installation comprising:

a trough shaped waterway in which boats are caused to move along the waterway from a point of entry to a discharge point; nozzles at the entry end of said waterway for directing water along said waterway to cause said boat to move along said waterway;

an outlet for said waterway for discharging water from said trough, said outlet and said entry end being disposed in side by side relationship;

a U-shaped turn at the end of said waterway opposite to said entry end and to said outlet;

and a means for stopping individual boats at a desired point along said waterway, said means including a plate hingedly connected to the floor of said trough, alongside of each guest room or seat at which boats are to be stopped, and means to activate said stopping means selectively at any of the desired places along said waterway.

2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAPR 30. mm

FIG.

FIG. 2

HYDRAULIC FLUID CONVEYOR The present invention relates to an installation for conveying a fare, lading, or goods to the place desired, by means of water current flowing past the guests rooms or seats at restaurants or the like, in which water runs, thereby to make an excursion for boats with fare on them by the water current.

According to the present invention, there is provided an installation comprising trough shaped waterways for conveying food and drink and for withdrawing the vacant boats, characterized by providing nozzles for creating an ejective current and an outlet for draining the water at the base, and providing a U-shaped turn means for the boats at the apex of said waterway, providing a means to stop the boats on the floor in front of each guest room or seat in said waterway for conveying food and drink.

The above-said and other objects and features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following detailed specification with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating the installations for conveyance showing a preferred form of an embodiment according to the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a sectional view as taken along the line 2 2 of FIG. 1 and in the direction of arrow 2-2.

In the drawings, 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2x, 2y, 2z are guest rooms or seats; 4 is a trough about cm in depth disposed in front of the guest rooms or seats. Partitions 6, 6 divide the trough 4 in a longitudinal direction wherein, 8a designates the first waterway formed by the partitions, 8b designates the second waterway, 8c designates the third waterway. The first waterway 8a and the third waterway 8c are the waterwayson which the boats transport food anddrink or guests make excursion, the second waterway 8b is the waterway for withdrawing vacant boats after providing food and drink or the boats may be loaded with containers or the like returned from the guests to the cuisine 10. The base of said trough 4 terminates in the kitchen and at the base the boats 12 may start and be withdrawn. Namely in the base at the starting place of the first waterway 8a and the third waterway 8c, nozzles 14 for ejective current are provided, thereby causing water in the trough to flow placidly.

Also a U-shaped turn means is provided at the apex of the waterway, namely near the common parts of the first and the third waterways 8a and 8c and the second waterway 8b, thereby to introduce the boats 12 coming from the first and/or the third waterway 8a and/or 8c to the second waterway 8b. In order that the boats turn in a U-shape smoothly and do not collide against the side of the trough, many small nozzles are installed at the inside of the trough in the U-shaped turn means and thereby some water current is ejected toward the center of the waterway, whereby the boats 12 do not approach the side of the trough. Thus the boats 12 turned in a U-shape and the current are introduced into the second waterway 8b, come to the last part of the waterway at the base of the trough, the boats are withdrawn there and the current is drained away into the outlet. Then it is economical to press by a pump or the like (not illustrated) instead of draining the water and cause the water to flow into the nozzles and turn it into the cistern again.

Now, the discussion will be directed to the means to stop the boats 12 on the waterways in front of each guest room or seat. The means comprises stopper boards 24 made of plastics or the like which are free in a vertical motion through hinges at the bottom of the first waterway 8a and the third waterway 8c, the nozzles 26 to cause water to eject to lift the stopper boards, and the electro-magnetic valves 28 to control the water to the nozzles. That is at the kitchen 10 the food and drink ordered by the guests are taken in the boats, and the boats are floated on the first or the third waterway, then if said stopper means arranged in front of the guest rooms or seats where the guest ordered is operated, the boats 12 are prevented to move by the lifted stopper boards and stop in front of the guest rooms or seats. After confirming that the guests took the fare and/or returned the vacant containers on the boats, the electro-magnetic valves are operated again and if the provision of the water current for stopper boards is stopped, whereby the stopper board 24 will be pressed by its own weight and the current in the waterway to descend and permit the boats go freely. Further, it is better to have some spacebetween said stopper boards and the floor of the trough under the condition which the boards are not operated. In other words, if they are stuck, there are some cases which the stopper boards are not lifted, therefore not to attain its aim by Bernoullis theorem even if water current for lifting is ejected.

While the present invention has been illustrated and described with particular reference to a specific embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings it will be understood that the same is merely exemplary and not restrictive, and therefore many variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and all of these variations are to be embraced within confines of the claims that follow.

What is claimed is:

1. An installation for conveying a fare to a station located along the side of a waterway comprising:

a trough adapted to contain water for conveying boats from a starting place to a destination, said waterway including a straight run extending from at least one entry end, and a straight run toward an outlet and a U-shaped turn connecting said entry run and said outlet run;

said straight runs being separated by partitions defining the vertical walls of said trough shaped watery;

at least one boat floating in the water present in said trough;

a plurality of nozzles located at the starting place to eject water into water already present in said trough shaped waterway thereby creating a current sufficient to move said boat along said waterway;

an outlet to drain water from said waterway and to collect empty boats,

and a means to stop boats selectively at any desired location along the length of said waterway, whereby the lading of said boats may be discharged at said location, said stopping means comprising stopper boards hingedly connected to the floor of said waterway, nozzles to discharge fluid directed at said stopper boards to lift the same to a vertical position to stop said boat, and electromagnetic 3 4 valves to control the supply of fluid to said last means to eject water into said trough through said noznamed nozzleszles so as to cause said boat to turn from said straight 2. An installation according to claim 1 including in addition a plurality of nozzles located along the side walls of said trough defining said U-shaped turn, and 5 entry run into said straight outlet run. 

1. An installation for conveying a fare to a station located along the side of a waterway comprising: a trough adapted to contain water for conveying boats from a starting place to a destination, said waterway including a straight run extending from at least one entry end, and a straight run toward an outlet and a U-shaped turn connecting said entry run and said outlet run; said straight runs being separated by partitions defining the vertical walls of said trough shaped waterway; at least one boat floating in the water present in said trough; a plurality of nozzles located at the starting place to eject water into water already present in said trough shaped waterway thereby creating a current sufficient to move said boat along said waterway; an outlet to drain water from said waterway and to collect empty boats, and a means to stop boats selectively at any desired location along the length of said waterway, whereby the lading of said boats may be discharged at said location, said stopping means comprising stopper boards hingedly connected to the floor of said waterway, nozzles to discharge fluid directed at said stopper boards to lift the same to a vertical position to stop said boat, and electromagnetic valves to control the supply of fluid to said last named nozzles.
 2. An installation according to claim 1 including in addition a plurality of nozzles located along the side walls of said trough defining said U-shaped turn, and means to eject water into said trough through said nozzles so as to cause said boat to turn from said straight entry run into said straight outlet run. 